The Phoenix Flyer

FL is well behind other states when it comes to getting COVID booster shots

By: Diane Rado - January 21, 2022 2:52 pm

Pfizer COVID vaccine. Source: Screenshot/YouTube

When Gov. Ron DeSantis hinted Friday that he hasn’t gotten a COVID booster shot, it wouldn’t be unusual.

Florida is below the national average and well behind other states when it comes to COVID booster shots that can help ward off COVID-19, according to federal data.

But the numbers show that many people across the nation aren’t pursuing the booster shots, even as COVID-19 infections continue during the pandemic.

Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) show that only 35.6 percent of people in Florida have gotten a booster dose. (Those people would have already been fully vaccinated.)

That puts Florida’s ranking at 38th of the 50 states and the District of Columbia, and below the national average of 39.3 percent.

Vermont, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Maine have highest percentage of people — more than 50 percent — who have gotten the shots.

Georgia, District of Columbia, Alabama, North Carolina and New Hampshire have the lowest percentages of people who have received the booster doses.

Here’s state-by-state data from the CDC on booster shots:

State	People who have received a booster dose	Percent of fully vaccinated people with booster doses
Vermont	272,329	55.3
Minnesota	1,952,529	52
Wisconsin	1,856,781	50.6
Maine	522,595	50.4
Iowa	922,823	48.8
Ohio	3,132,386	47.6
Rhode Island	393,877	47.6
Michigan	2,700,056	46.8
Colorado	1,786,515	45.8
Oregon	1,294,457	45.5
Massachusetts	2,374,590	45.4
Nebraska	534,362	45.2
Connecticut	1,221,045	45
Illinois	3,724,378	44.8
Washington	2,349,797	44.4
Maryland	1,917,794	44.1
New Mexico	623,747	43.9
Hawaii	463,038	43.4
Montana	254,919	43.4
Virginia	2,497,774	41.7
Idaho	354,788	41.7
West Virginia	414,791	41.4
Indiana	1,457,827	41
New Jersey	2,554,813	40
Kentucky	985,575	39.9
California	10,735,572	39.8
Delaware	251,224	39.3
Tennessee	1,402,796	39.2
Wyoming	111,865	39
North Dakota	159,242	38.9
New York State	5,522,564	38.7
Pennsylvania	3,195,026	38.3
Kansas	650,768	38.1
Alaska	160,973	37.9
Missouri	1,253,539	37.8
South Dakota	194,395	37.6
South Carolina	1,003,152	35.7
Florida	4,938,723	35.6
Arizona	1,494,929	35.2
Louisiana	841,508	35.2
Arkansas	550,444	34.9
Utah	669,152	34.7
Nevada	607,137	34
Oklahoma	732,355	33.8
Mississippi	491,508	33.2
Texas	5,549,015	32.8
Georgia	1,794,783	32.3
District of Columbia	152,950	31.2
Alabama	736,300	30.7
North Carolina	1,401,317	23.1
New Hampshire	169,502	18.2

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Diane Rado

Diane Rado has covered state and local government and public schools in six states over some 30 years, focusing on policy and investigative stories as well as legislative and political reporting. She spent most of her career at the St. Petersburg (Tampa Bay) Times and the Chicago Tribune. She has a master’s degree in journalism from Northwestern University and did a fellowship in education reform at the University of Michigan in 1999-2000. She is married to a journalist and has three adult children.